Georgetown

In Georgetown we find 'Ann Louise' at the Marina. We chat with Bill and his crew after shopping.  In town itself Sammy gets a haircut. We meet up with Jane and Haddya from Escapade and Karen from Dream Weaver.  This ends up in a dinner invitation.  We decide to move to Monument Beach now that the wind has swung back to the north.  We take a dinghy ride to Chat & Chill to visit with Bill and crew, Brady, Jason and Sarah from Ann Louise.  They are good fun.  After a few brews we head back to join Paul, Karen, Jane, Kurt and Haddya for smoked salmon risotto aboard Escapade. Thank you Jane & Kurt!

Red Shanks

We had a hard time finding enough "swing room" until we got to Sand Dollar Beach.  I like at least a 5:1 scope or so in 20' of water. That combined with our 8' bow means we need a fair bit of space feel  comfortable in a blow.  With the winds forecasted to clock around we decide to pick up and go into Red Shanks behind Crab Cay where we know we'll have good shelter.  It's also an easy and protected dinghy ride into town from there. We spend the day doing "boat stuff", like dinghy maintenance, wash off some salt and go for a swim.  We then relaxed on the back deck with a book and wine or beer.  It was a good day.

Great Guana to Georgetown

Perhaps we've already mentioned this, but it has been very windy here this year and  the temps rather cool.  The water is 74-75 degrees and the air temperatures are 74-78F.  I like it at about 5-10 degrees warmer. In fact 80-85 degrees is perfect.  It's also very dry here so warm temperatures are nice and comfortable.

The winds are all “trade winds” at 090-120 degrees but they are relentless, 20+ kts seems to be the norm this year.  OK at anchor in the lee but it's a challenge to head into the ocean for fishing or crossing to some other interesting destinations.

This morning we decide to make the trip to Georgetown. It's not a long trip or a big “crossing”, about 8 hours, but we hope to catch a mahi for dinner.  We're departing at 8 am so we can time the tide at the cut. The wind is still a bit gusty at 15-20kts. We stay in the lee on the bank side for the first 2 hours, then out Galliot Cut we go at high slack tide. The cut is “flat” but the seas are not, 4-6’ on the nose so it's bouncy!

As soon as we get into 200 feet of water out go two lines on the out riggers (too rough to set extra lines off the boat deck).  Shortly thereafter we have our first mahi!  Then a bit later, another! We clean them and carry on.  The wind and seas have dropped a bit to 14 kts with 3-4' seas. That's much better.

After a lunch of Sylvianne's fresh baked bread and egg salad, oranges and a can of V8, the admiral says I can keep fishing as long as I am releasing.  We have plenty to eat.  I agree, unless of course we get a small tuna. Hmmm sashimi!  No such luck. Just before Conch Cut, near the entrance to Elizabeth Harbour, we hook a ‘cuda'. We let that toothy guy go.

It's very crowded at Monument Beach. Dream Weaver and Escapade are there. They come by in their dinghy to welcome us. We can't find enough “swing room”  near them to make me happy so we thread our way through the anchorage. We try at Volleyball Beach but cannot get the hook to hold.  Again, as always, it is crowded. I think the holding here is just plain “worn out”.  Eventually we get to Sand Dollar Beach with plenty of space to swing and the anchor grabs right away.

We are here, wine time, mahi for dinner!

Jack's Bay Cove

Jack's Bay Cove; a wonderful spot in a trade wind .  We kayak the rocky shore. Looks like we should have snorkeled here as well. We think it might be quite good. From the rocky shore to the  beach, it's nice and quiet here, no Sea-Doos.  There are only a few scattered boats anchored along the coast and best of all, no crowds.

Karen & Esa Visit

With Karen & Esa we travel throughout the northern Exumas, snorkeling, beaching, shelling and just having a good time.  I'll post some great photos when I get a better connection.

Norman's Cay

Again we are at Norman's Cay.  Esa and Karen are with us.  Beaches, shelling, dinghy rides in "skinny" water.  Fun!

Exumas with Mom

Mom joins us at Norman’s Cay.  Paul Harding from Safari Seaplanes runs charters out of Nassau in his very nice Maule Amphib and lands Mom on the beach right by the boat.  As a bonus he brings us groceries, fresh vegetables, fruit, and beverages!  We visit all our favorite spots, Norman’s Cay, Warderick Wells, Black Point, and say goodbye at Staniel Cay. We really enjoyed beaching, shelling, riding in the dinghy and kayaking with Mom. She found some real treasures including a rare Kings Helmut Conch!

Bahamas

Hello again!  We did stop in South Beach; great time on Lincoln Ave with Bill & Ruth.  "Sushi Samba" was fun and delicious, as was watching all the "beautiful people".  It's quite the place South Beach, one of our favorites, at least in small doses.  Then we were off to the Bahamas. We crossed the Gulf Stream and anchored on the banks at dusk. It was a beautiful evening, very cool being at anchor with no land in sight!

The next am we were up early and headed into Bullocks Harbour in Great Harbour Cay. We cleared customs then went to the "pub" for my first  Kalik and a conch burger since the last time I had a conch burger!  Sammy stuck to beef, it looked really good too!  A "local" gave me the scoop on the wahoo fishing off of Stirrup Cay.

Next day we got the riggers and lines all ready and off we went. By mid morning we'd caught a nice wahoo! Thanks again to the friendly advice at the pub; we had enough for a few delicious meals.  We anchored at Bonds Cay along with a few other boats. We were up at 6am and went direct to Norman's Cay in the Exumas via Nassau where we met up with Tautaug. By end of the day we were anchored nearby at Norman's.  Bill and Ruth carried on the next morning; Georgetown bound.  We moved into the anchorage and plan to hang out here for the week, kayaking, beaching and just relaxing.  Mom will join us here on Friday for a week in the Exumas.

Talk again soon
K & S

Catch Up Time!

Sorry, yes I know, where have we been and what are we doing? Well, after 2 months at Loggerhead in Stuart we both needed to leave the dock; not the good folks there, not Steve the Harbor Master and his team, we just needed to get moving, use the anchor and all those other systems before they all seize up. Guess we, like many of our Krogen friends, are just not dock people. We gotta keep movin'.

Anyway, it is now Feb 9 and we are anchored with a bunch of boats in Lake Sylvia, Ft. Lauderdale. It looks like the next good crossing is next week Tuesday toThursday so we may go on down to South Beach, hang there for a few days, dine out a few nights, maybe find our friends on Nordhaven Tautaug, then, on the first good window, we'll be Exumas bound, at least the northern Exumas. Not sure we need to do the Georgetown scene again this year, just too many boats! Perhaps Long Island, Cat Island, Conception, Rum Cay? Maybe even the Bight of Abaco or Andros. Ah! the season awaits us.

Cheers all, we will try and keep you posted.

K

Welcoming 2012 at Peck Lake

Thanks Darrel & Jennifer. This get together was a great idea!  Five Krogens and a Nonsuch!  What a great weekend! Take Time, Sea Quill, Sylken Sea, Epilogue (the Nonsuch), Freelance and  Dream Weaver.

Georgeous weather, good parties, a beach and some kayaking!

Happy New Year All!